Review – Lucifer S03E13: Til Death Do Us Part

Lucifer’s Undercover is a Bust

2nd week back from hiatus and that means another episode of Lucifer has passed us by. I told myself I would always be honest while writing these reviews – fair but honest – so here we go. I was not a big fan of this episode. Some of the aspects ruined the rest of the episode for me and I know that sadly I’m not the only one that felt this way. Til Death Do Us Part was written by Mike Costa, and while the episode tried hard it didn’t stick the landing. Nothing against Costa; he has actually written two of my favorite episodes, “Pops” and “Homewrecker,” but it just didn’t work for me.

Killer Pals

Tom Welling as Marcus Pierce

This episode explored the relationship between Marcus Pierce and Lucifer more deeply. After all, at the end of last week’s episode we saw them make a deal. Pierce can’t die; no matter what Lucifer tries to do, it doesn’t work. Pierce has tried everything, including going inside a volcano, and yet nothing kills him permanently. Not even weapons forged in hell that can kill even Lucifer. Marcus gets frustrated and storms out while Lucifer is left to think of something else to do.

It’s Maze who gives him an idea of what he could do. We get an extremely adorable scene of Maze excitedly showing off her weapons collection–if anyone can make a scene like that look adorable, it’s Lesley-Ann Brandt. Of course, they don’t work because they’re all knives, until Maze reminds him that Chloe makes him vulnerable, and he just has to find Pierce’s vulnerability.

Despite Lucifer’s multiple attempts at getting Marcus to open up, the man just won’t budge. We do get an incredible scene of Tom Ellis wearing glasses and trying to act like Pierce’s therapist, and he’s not so far from the mark. He clearly has learned a trick or two from Linda! Even while going undercover they don’t seem to be getting anywhere, until they do. Lucifer realizes that Pierce pushes people away because he hates being alone. Sounds like an oxymoron but the fact is that Pierce watches everyone he cares about die so he’d rather not care. Lucifer compares their situation, but the fact is that Lucifer does care about people. And though he pretends otherwise, there are people who’d understand him if he just opened up to them. Ironic, isn’t it? Considering that’s what he wanted to do with Pierce.

Partners & Normality

Chloe is supposedly our female lead and yet we’re back to giving Lauren German almost no screentime. After giving her wonderful moments in “All About Her,” having an episode with not a lot of Chloe scenes was a bit of a letdown. We do get a wonderful comedic moment in the scene with Chloe and Lucifer in Lux. German is hilarious as she mimics Tom Ellis’ accent and then we get Ellis’ affronted face. Lucifer pretends he would never do what she claims, and the very next scene he goes and does exactly that.

He might claim Pierce is the only one who could understand him, but no one knows him like Chloe does. She knows his quirks just like he knows hers. She reminds him that what is important here is the case, and that Pierce can’t solve it without him.

Helfer/Brandt

We then have Charlotte and Dan finally going on their date. Both of them are trying really hard to be normal, but then Maze arrives. We get a fantastic scene with Charlotte and Maze that comes with realizations for both of them. Maze realizes the reason she was interested in Charlotte was because of her stint in hell. Charlotte realizes there’s no going back to normal, she just needs a new normal.

In what was probably my favorite scene of the episode, Dan tells her that he doesn’t mind waiting. She is worth waiting for. It’s a beautiful scene between Kevin Alejandro and Tricia Helfer. Helfer portrays the emotions beautifully as you can tell she’s shocked at his words. She might have been a badass in her pre-hell life, but I doubt she had someone like Dan by her side. I can’t wait to see where they go from here; I’m rooting for them.

You Can Do Better

I have no idea if the writers are reading this but I’m speaking directly to them for this next segment. It’s divided into two parts because it got long.

I’m a bisexual woman; I don’t have a lot of representation on television. One of the things that I liked about this show was that Lucifer is bisexual. The writers have gone back and forth between bisexual/pansexual but for now, we’re going with the former because that’s what I relate to, although this is relevant for both.

Bisexuals don’t ask for much. Rosa Diaz came out on Brooklyn Nine-Nine in December 2017, I cried because she said the words “I’m bisexual/bi”. That’s how low the bar is for us. You can step on it. The other thing we implore is that the few characters we do get don’t fall into the negative stereotypes. The ones that go: bisexuals can’t choose, bisexuals sleep with anything with a pulse etc. And this is where we get to the matter at hand.

A little less than enthusiastic.

Lucifer and Maze are both wonderful characters but, as rep this season, are missing the mark. First there are threesome jokes and orgy jokes; it seems like this season we get two or three every other episode. It doesn’t help that we rarely see Lucifer hooking up with women who aren’t model types, let alone men. The first time we see him on screen kissing a man, Pierce looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

It reeked of “predatory bi man kisses poor straight guy.” I mean, honestly, of all the characters in the show, you went with the one that could not be more heterosexual? Jokes aside, Pierce looked very uncomfortable–please don’t forget that consent is very important. The previous seasons were doing so well and we’ve got 3 instances in this season so far.

YCDB Final Thoughts

The scenes with Maze, Charlotte, and Dan, while great (I mean I’m only human), fall into the stereotypes as well. Whether they are bisexual or pansexual, the point is that both Lucifer and Maze are the only confirmed queer characters, and to have both of them be overly sexualized? It’s not good, because you are just feeding into said stereotypes. I don’t think it’s done maliciously but it still makes us feel bad.

We don’t need to see our favorite character perpetrating the stereotypes that make things so tough for bisexuals/pansexuals. We deal with it even inside our own community, so it would be nice to not have to deal with the mentality in our favorite show as well. If you want the props for the representation you need to put in the effort. Have Maze and Lucifer (or any other possible queer character) say the words “I’m bisexual/pansexual” out loud. It’s one line that doesn’t take much space and yet would mean the world. Please remember there’s a very clear difference between queer representation and queer-baiting.

There are other ways to explore our sexuality other than jokes about orgies and threesomes. Explore the characters’ sexuality outside of the act of sex. Frankly said, bisexual/pansexual fans deserve better. We deserve respect instead of seeing our sexuality played as a joke. You’ve got a really talented writing staff. We know you can do better.

Quotes:

Lucifer Morningstar: Everyone has a kryptonite, lieutenant.

Maze: My blades are forged in hell; how else am I supposed to kill a celestial being?

Lucifer Morningstar: I should find out what makes Pierce vulnerable. Get inside his head. Not with the cranial saw. Not yet anyway.

Lauren German as Chloe Decker

Chloe Decker: You can’t just walk in there with your three-piece suit and go hello drug dealers.

Lucifer Morningstar: I would never do that!

bonus Kevin Alejandro pic

Dan Espinoza: Whatever this is that we have, it’s never been normal. And I decided that I just have to own that. I like you, Charlotte; you are unlike anyone I’ve ever met. So if you need time to sort some things out, I can wait. You’re worth it.

Additional:

*This show is still my favorite, which is why this matters to me.

*Missed Ella, Linda, and Amenadiel in this episode.

* Chloe gives Pierce a little too much credit, in my opinion, and I hate that it will crush her if she finds out he’s been manipulating her. While on the subject, we need more scenes of Chloe with her girl tribe; she needs some girl time.

*How long were the writers waiting to make that Clark Kent/Smallville reference? Tom Welling’s expression makes it worth it.

*I felt like Tom Ellis was probably channeling a bit of Gary Preston in the undercover scenes and it was glorious.

*There are so many drug references this season; I know it’s the devil but still.

About the author

Maii Trueba

Maii is a 27 year old writer, who can get emotional and protective over certain characters and their stories, also pandas. And don't get her started on A Song of Ice and Fire because you'll never hear the end of it. She graduated in film and has a certificate in Art History so the nerdiness comes out from time to time.

1 Comment

A disappointment for me was the kiss. It was less hot than I thought it would be because of Marcus flailing around.

I feel that I understand Marcus a bit more. He keeps people away with a ten foot pole since getting emotionally attached to anyone means agony when they pass away. He’s more interested in whether people can get the job done and doesn’t engage in small talk. I wonder if the Defrosting Ice King trope will come into play later on in the season.

I loved the return of omnilingual Lucifer.

The Charlotte and Dan scene near the end was cute. I remember being like eww at Mom and Dan in season 2.